


All the Rainbows

by Tinstars



Category: Glee RPF
Genre: Flirting, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-27
Updated: 2011-06-27
Packaged: 2018-01-01 15:22:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1045499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tinstars/pseuds/Tinstars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chris and Darren get ready for a gay pride parade.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All the Rainbows

Darren emerged from the bathroom like a rockstar swaggering onto the stage. He did a dramatic spin and gave his best faux runway pose.  
  
“So, what do you think?”  
  
He was wearing a fitted purple shirt with his usual pink sunglasses, a pair of rainbow suspenders, and tight jeans that looked like they existed solely to draw attention to his package. It was pretty much indistinguishable from the clothes he normally wore.  
  
“You look like you’re ready for a gay pride parade,” Chris said.  
  
Darren grinned and sat down on the bed to slip his shoes on.  
  
“What about me?” Chris asked, gesturing to his ensemble, which consisted of a stylish blue shirt, jeans, and a thin bracelet with rainbow beads.  
  
Darren pushed his sunglasses up with his thumb and gave Chris a once-over.  
  
“Oh. It-it’s great.”  
  
Darren was one of the worst liars in the world.  
  
Chris sighed and rubbed his temples. “Too much?” he asked sarcastically.  
  
After a contemplative pause, Darren rushed over to his closet and started digging around. He emerged after a few minutes with a large multicolor feather boa and a triumphant smile.  
  
Chris groaned loudly.  
  
His first thought was that he should probably ask why why _why_ Darren had a huge feather boa in his closet. That was quickly dismissed, as he already knew Darren’s answer would be “ _why not_?”  
  
When it became clear that Darren was going to try to drape it ceremoniously across Chris’ shoulders, he swatted Darren’s hands away.  
  
“In public? Uh-uh. No way, José.”  
  
Darren laughed gently, still holding the boa out.  
  
“Have you ever _been_ to a pride parade?”  
  
Chris hummed and shifted uncomfortably. He had not, in fact, been to a gay pride parade. He felt kind of sheepish about it, and then felt silly for being embarrassed. His sexual orientation didn’t mandate which events he had to attend. And it wasn’t as though he’d had many opportunities in the past.  
  
Darren read his silence as an answer.  
  
“Oh man, we have to do it up!” His excitement was as palpable as his face was ridiculous. “In honor of your first Pride, I’m going to buy you _all_ the rainbows. And all the cocktails. You, sir, are going to be filled with booze and rainbows when I’m done with you.”  
  
Chris scrunched his nose. “Wow. Sounds like you on a Saturday night.”  
  
Darren smirked and lifted the boa again. “Just try it on. Please?”  
  
Chris bit his lip and squinted at the boa.  
  
“C’mon. You wear ridiculous things at work every day,” Darren argued.  
  
“Yeah, for television. Not in real life where real people could really see me.”  
Even though he was still protesting, Chris felt his resolve weakening.  
  
Darren was silent for a few moments. Suddenly, he glanced over Chris shoulder, yelled “WHOA HEY WHAT IS THAT”, and closed the distance before Chris even had a chance to turn around. It was kind of insulting that Darren thought so little of his reflexes, but Chris just rolled his eyes and allowed him to wrap the boa around his shoulders.  
  
After studying the new look, Darren gave him a thumbs up and pulled him into the bathroom. They stood side by side in front of the mirror and Chris let his shoulders relax. He did look totally ridiculous, but he supposed that was pretty much the point. Without realizing it, he reached up to pet the tacky fake feathers, which were kind of soft and pointy all at once.  
  
“Pose with me,” Darren insisted as he started doing more of his pseudo fashion poses. Chris smiled and watched him for a moment before joining in. He was in the middle of working out a badass ninja pose when he felt his heart drop.  
  
“Darren?”  
  
“Yeah?” Darren said, pouting at his mirror self like a sleazy model.  
  
“I’m pretty sure someone’s going to recognize us. I’m pretty sure _everyone who owns a television_ is going to recognize us.” He'd gotten used to going out once in a while with the protection of his friends, but it had been a long time since he’d gone to an event with such a high volume of people, with so little company. He’d secretly been really excited when Darren had asked him to go, to the extent that he hadn’t really considered how immense the potential for danger was.  
  
The same realization seemed to have dawned on Darren too. “Shit.”  
  
Then, just as quickly, his face lit up.  
  
Darren ran out of the bathroom and came back holding a pair of sunglasses in neon blue. Chris eyed them warily and put them on, knowing that it wouldn’t do much good. His features were stupidly recognizable, even with his eyes hidden.  
  
They looked at each other, and then back at the mirror.  
  
"I don't want to die yet," Chris whispered.  
  
“We could have our own pride parade?” Darren said, a little too desperately to be kidding.  
  
Chris raised his eyebrow, half curious and half incredulous. “Go on…”  
  
“My friend has a big dog. I have a little wagon in storage. We just need to get some streamers and confetti and build a sturdy harness. It’ll be fantastic.”  
  
Chris knew Darren well enough to know that he was actually seriously suggesting that they hold a gay pride parade with a dog tied to a wagon.  
  
“Do you know how to paper-mache? I’ve got tons of paint.” Darren added, completely sincere.  
  
Chris let out a little groan and leaned over the counter, burying his face in his hands. The sunglasses fell into the sink with a loud clatter.  
  
Then he had a thought. He perked up and had his phone out in a matter of seconds.  
  
“Who’re you texting,” Darren asked, leaning over to see for himself.  
  
“Ashley. If she comes, I’ll feel safer. She’s made it very clear that she would bodyslam a stranger for me if she needed to.” He zoned out in thought. “Maybe I should text Amber too.”  
  
Darren took off his glasses and hooked them over his shirt. He was pouting for real this time. “You don’t think I could defend you?” He sounded like he was legitimately a little hurt.  
  
“It’s sweet that you think you would, but…” He trailed off, trying to think of a way to put it delicately. “Darren, I’m pretty sure you couldn’t intentionally harm another human being unless you were being mind controlled.”  
  
Darren gaped and looked like he was about to argue, but just gave a small nod instead. He still looked unreasonably offended.  
  
“Yet another situation that would be totally improved if I were a Jedi.” He looked at himself in the mirror and flourished his fingers. “These aren’t the television actors you’re looking for.”  
  
Chris took a moment to stare at him, before he broke out into an embarrassing giggle. “If I could marry you right now, I probably would.” Honestly, it was one of those moments where he really, genuinely hated that Darren was straight.  
  
“That’s kind of sad, for a lot of reasons,” Darren said, catching Chris’ eye in the mirror.  
  
Chris looked from Darren’s gaze, back to himself, and something struck him. Maybe it was all the rainbows, or the underlying buzz of Darren’s excitement. Maybe it was that he’d just reminded himself that he could not, in fact, get married.  
  
“I really want to go. Let’s go.” He picked up the sunglasses, wiped off the lenses and shoved them back onto his face. Darren was just frowning, like he didn’t understand what was going on. Chris shooed him into the bedroom and handed him his wallet from the nightstand. “Now. Before I change my mind.”  
  
Darren turned around, walking backwards for a bit, and grinned at him. He grinned back, and felt the growing anticipation resonate in his chest.  
  
Ashley’s text came as soon as they got in the car. She agreed to meet them there. Chris gave a small sigh of relief, but hid it from Darren and sent off a few replies.  
  
 _You’re a goddess._  
One other favor - when we see you, could you pretend it’s coincidence?  
DC thinks he’s secretly a cage fighter  
I don’t want to hurt his manly feelings  
  
At the next stoplight, Darren gave him a curious glance. “Is that Ashley?”  
  
Chris froze up for a second before replying coolly. “No, she hasn’t responded.” He was actually pretty good at lying. It wasn’t exactly something he was proud of. “It was just my Aunt asking about the parade. I told her that I was going a couple of days ago.”  
  
Darren smiled and turned back to focus on the road. “Cool.”  
  
They sat in silence for a while, until they saw some rainbow flags up ahead.  
  
“This is going to be awesome,” Darren said. “I’m glad you decided to go.”  
  
A thumping dance beat could be heard in the distance. Crowds of pedestrians wearing colorful shirts and hats and necklaces flocked on the sidewalk, heading towards the heart of the event. Every minute brought them closer to a sea of people ensnared in a celebration of love and culture and pride.  
  
Chris took a deep breath and smiled.  
  
“Me too.”


End file.
